NSDQ by M. L. Buchman

Author:M. L. Buchman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Buchman Bookworks, Inc.
Published: 2016-09-02T00:00:00+00:00

8

“I lost so much.” Lois hadn’t really been functional after the simulated flight. She’d let herself be led by Kendall. Down the stairs, to his car, back to her apartment. There she’d simply handed him her keys and he’d let them in.

She’d kept her composure through delivery pizza. Held it together while they spoke of nothing at all really. At least not that she could remember.

“Well, I should—”

“Will you stay?” She could hear his “it’s time to leave tone,” and she really didn’t want to be alone.

Kendall looked at her as if not quite believing what he was hearing.

“Okay, I know I’m a bad bet. I’m”—to hell with the WTU’s words-to-avoid list—“crippled. I’m an emotional train wreck. And I can’t promise I won’t be a worse one tomorrow.”

“I could sit with you—”

“I’m no longer an invalid in a hospital bed.” She stopped herself before it turned into a shout. Getting to her feet, she clomped away from where they’d been sitting ever so carefully on opposite ends of the couch. She came to a stop facing the unlit kitchen, her back to Kendall. Taking a deep breath, she braced her hands on the counter for support but didn’t turn as she spoke.

“I’ve been thinking about what you said. You’ve been stuck in my head the whole damn day. I finally get that you liked me…”—she thought about last night’s dinner and kiss—“like me. I don’t know why you never said anything. I can’t figure that part out. I was single. I never slept around in the unit or much outside it. Why two years—”

“Because you flew.” Kendall had come up behind her without her noticing. His voice was barely a whisper. So close she could feel him there now, though he didn’t touch her.

“Because I flew?” But that’s everything she was…had been. “You didn’t clue me in about how you felt, because I flew.”

“Yes.”

She spun to face him so fast that he took a quick step back. “Oh, but now that I can’t fly, now that the sky has been ripped away from me, now it’s okay to kiss me like you want to take me to bed? Well, to hell with you.” She tried to storm away, but he stopped her. He was far more powerful than she was, could have caged her against the counter, done anything, and she couldn’t have stopped him.

All Kendall did was rest his hand lightly on her arm and suddenly all of her momentum failed her.

“Why?” She couldn’t look up to meet those dark eyes. “Can you at least tell me why?”

He nodded slowly, then led her back to the couch. His hand was strong and warm as he supported her through the still awkward transition from standing to sitting. She wanted to curl her legs under her, but the cool metal creeped her out each time it brushed her other leg.

“It’s not that you flew—”

“But you just said—”

He held up his hand to stop her. His face was unreadable. She might not

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